Apparatus for winding yarn



APlll 5, 1955 R. H. RouGHsEDGE 2,705,362

A APPARATUS FOR wINDING YARN Filed June 3, 1950 INVENTOR.

-' STOP -WARPER ROBERT H. ROUGHSEDGE MOT/oN- DRIVE ATTORNEYS 1 Y l l 424.5 ma

United States Patent APPARATUS FOR WINDING YARN Robert H. Roughsedge,Ramsey, N. J., assignor to Celanese Corporation of America, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Application June 3, 1950, Serial No.166,020

6 Claims. (Cl. 28-51) This invention relates to textile apparatus andrelates more particularly to yarn tension devices for use in textileapparatus.

In textile operations involving travelling yarn, as in the winding ofyarn from a source of supply onto a takeup package, it is desirable tomaintain the yarn under controlled tension during the winding operation.Heretofore, the desired tension was applied to the yarn by devices ofvarious types such as discs, whorls, gates, springs, etc. A commoncharacteristic of all such prior yarn tension devices is that theydepend upon the frictional rubbing of two surfaces, one of which may bethe yarn itself, to develop tension in the yarn. These prior yarntension devices are not wholly satisfactory since the rubbing causeswear on their friction surfaces necessitating periodic readjustment andreplacement of said devices to maintain the yarn tension within narrowlimits. In addition, where the prior yarn tension devices developtension in the yarn through the rubbing of the yarn itself against afriction surface, the possibility is ever present that the rubbing willdamage the yarn, particularly when the yarn is subjected to a largenumber of textile operations in each of which it passes through a yarntension device.

In many textile operations, it is necessary to apply tensionsimultaneously to a great many ends of yarn. For example, in the beamingof a warp of yarns, a plurality of yarn packages are mounted in a creel,the ends of yarn from said yarn packages are passed through individualyarn tension devices and stop motions, and are then wound on a drivenWarp beam at a constant rate in a manner well known in the art. Toobtain a satisfactory warp, the tension applied by the yarn tensiondevices to each of the ends of yarn must be substantially identical.When using prior yarn tension devices, as the friction surfaces thereofbecome worn, there was a tendency for the tension on the ends of yarn tochange, leading to the production of imperfect warps. Furthermore, withprior yarn tension devices, when it was desired to change the tensionapplied to all of the ends of yarn at one time, as, for example, inbeaming a different type or weight of yarn, it was necessary to adjusteach of the yarn tension devices individually. This operation required aconsiderable amount of time and labor and often led to the production ofdefective warps where errors occurred in the setting of the yarn tensiondevices.

It is an important object of this invention to provide a yarn tensiondevice which will be free from the foregoing and other disadvantages andwhich will be especially simple in construction and efficient inoperation.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a yarn tensiondevice in which the yarn tension is developed without the use offriction.

Another object of this invention is to provide yarn tension devices inwhich the tension on a number of ends of yarn passing through individualyarn tension devices may be changed by means of a single adjustment.

Other objects of this invention, together with certain details ofconstruction and combinations of parts, will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description and claims.

According to the present invention, there is provided a device forapplying tension to a travelling yarn comprising a member movable bysaid yarn, such as a rotatable wheel around which the yarn is adapted tobe trained, and magnetic means for applying a braking force to saidwheel to develop tension in the yarn without the use of friction. Themagnetic braking means comprises a magnet and an electric conductorspaced from and out of contact with the magnet and positioned in themagnetic eld produced by said magnet. Either the magnet or the electricconductor is fastened to the rotatable wheel so that as the yarn causessaid wheel to rotate, the electric conductor will be moved with respectto the magnetic field, generating an electric current therein. As iswell known, the generation of an electric current in the conductor willtend to oppose the motion of said conductor with respect to the magneticfield, thereby applying a braking force to the wheel to develop tensionin the yarn.

The magnet may comprise a coil through which an electric current ispassed to produce a magnetic eld, which coil may be provided with polepieces of ferromagnetic material to concentrate the magnetic field. Theelectric conductor may be formed of any material that will carry anelectric current, such as copper, aluminum or the like. To obtain thehighest braking force in a yarn tension device of given size, theelectric conductor is advantageously formed of a ferromagnetic materialsuch as soft iron or the like so that the electric current generatedtherein will produce a strong magnetic field which will interact withthe magnetic field of the magnet.

The magnitude of the braking force applied to the rotatable wheel andthe tension developed in the yarn for a given yarn tension device and ata given yarn speed will depend upon the strength of the :magnetic iieldwith respect to which the electric conductor is moved. The strength ofthis magnetic field may be altered by adjusting the spacing between themagnet and the electric conductor, which adjustment may be used to matcha plurality of yarn tension devices so that they will all producesubstantially identical yarn tensions when operated under the sameconditions. The strength of the magnetic eld may also be altered bychanging the strength of the magnet, which, in those cases where themagnet comprises a coil through which an electric current is passed, isreadily eected by increasing or decreasing the value of this current.This permits the tension of the yarns passing through a plurality ofyarn tension devices to be changed simultaneously by interconnecting thecoils of said yarn tension devices and altering the value of the currentflowing through all of said coils.

Upon stopping the textile apparatus in connection with which the yarntension device of the invention is employed, inertia causes the wheel tocontinue to rotate for a limited time. If this override is differentfrom that of the other elements of the textile apparatus, it willintroduce slack into the yarn or will subject the yarn to excessivetension. To avoid this possibility, means may be provided to change thebraking force on the wheel when the textile apparatus is stopped so asto maintain a uniform tension on the yarn at all times.

The yarn tension device of this invention will now be described inspecific connection with a warper. It is to be understood, however, thatit may be applied in connection with other types of textile apparatuswherein it is desired to apply a controlled tension to a travelling arn.

y A preferred embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawing wherein,

Fig. l is a side elevational view of a portion of a creel to which theyarn tension device is applied.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the yarn tension device,

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional View of the yarn tension device,

Fig. 4 is a plan View of the yarn tension device with certain partsomitted in the interest of clarity, and

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view showing the interconnections between awarper and a plurality of yarn tension devices.

Referring now to the drawing, the reference numeral 11 designates a yarnwhich is drawn from a bobbin 12 and passed over a yarn tension device,indicated generally by reference numeral 13, on its way to a warperwhich may be of the type shown in application Ser. No. 94,118, filed May19, 1949, of Roughsedge et al., now Patent No. 2,663,067. The yarntension device 13 is mounted on a supporting plate 14 fastened to abracket 15 that is clamped to an upright 16 by means of a set screw 17.

The yarn tension device 13 includes a magnet indicated generally byreference numeral 18, which comprises a coil 19 and pole pieces 21 ofsoft iron or other ferromagnetic material that are fastened to the plate14 by means of screws 22. The pole pieces 21 are bent around Ithe coilA19 and have an air-gap 23 separating the ends thereof, in which air-gap23 a strong magnetic iield is. produced when an electric current tiowsthrough the windings of said coil.

Positioned centrally of the coil 19 is a sleeve-bearing 24 which isadvantageously formed from porous sintered metal impregnated with alubricant. Rotatably mounted in the bearing 24 is a wheel assembly,indicated generally by reference numeral 25, and comprising a shaft 26of hardened steel that carries at its upper end, a wheel 27 and a softiron disk 28. At its lower end, the shaft 26 is rounded and polished,and bears against the upper end f a hardened steel screw 29 that is inthreaded engagement with the plate 14 and extends through said plate 14and into a passageway 31 in the lower end of the sleevebearing 24. Thescrew 29 is provided with a lock-nut 32 to hold the same in any desiredposition.

The periphery of the wheel 27 is divided into three sections, a lowersection 33 that is tapered at a relatively sharp angle, an intermediatesection 34 that is tapered at a smaller angle than the lower section 33,and an upper section 35 that is tapered at a smaller angle than theintermediate section 34. The yarn 11 is directed onto the wheel 27 bymeans of a yarn guide such as a trumpet guide 36 which is supported on astandard 37 fastened to the plate 14 by means of a screw 38. Afterpassing around the periphery of the Wheel 27, the yarn 11 leaves saidwheel and passes through a yarn guide such as a trumpet guide 39 whichis supported on a standard 41 that is fastened to the plate 14 in anysuitable manner. The trumpet guide 36 is positioned to direct the yarn11 onto the intermediate section 34 of the wheel 27, and the trumpetguide 39 is positioned to remove the yarn 11 from the intermediatesection 34 of the wheel 27 at a point higher than that at which it firstcontacts said wheel. Because of the upward inclination of theintermediate section 34, the yarn 11 tends to move upwardly on saidsection in passing around the periphery of the wheel 27 from the trumpetguide 36 to the trumpet guide 39 as shown in Fig. 2, thereby preventingthe overlapping of two turns of yarn with possible damage to or breakageof said yarn.

As the yarn 11 passes through the yarn tension device 13, it will causethe rotation of the wheel assembly 25, thereby moving the disk 28 withrespect to the magnetic iield produced in the air-gap 23 by the flow ofan electric current through the windings of the coil 19. The movement ofthe disk 28 with respect to the magnetic field in the air-gap 23 willgenerate electric currents in said disk, which will tend to oppose therotation of said disk and exert a braking force on the wheel assembly 25to produce tension in the yarn 11. The magnitude of the braking force onthe wheel assembly 25 and the tension in the yarn 11 will depend uponthe strength of the magnetic iield in the air-gap 23, which may becontrolled by changing the value of the electric current flowing throughthe windings of the coil 19. The braking force on the wheel assembly 25will also depend upon the spacing between the air-gap 23 and the disk28, which spacing may be readily adjusted by turning the screw 29.

Fig. shows diagrammatically the interconnections between yarn tensiondevices of this invention and a warper that is employed for beamingyarn. In this operation, ends of yarn are drawn from a plurality of yarnpackages and, after passing through individual yarn tension devices 13and, also individual stop motions indicated diagrammatically byreference numeral 42, are arranged to form a warp 43 that is wound ontoa warp beam 44 rotated by means of a warper drive, indicateddiagrammatically by reference numeral 45. The coils 19 of the yarntension devices 13 are connected in parallel between leads 46 and 47 anda direct current is caused to iiow through said coils by impressing asuitable voltage across the terminals 48 and 49. A rheostat 51 connectedin series with the lead 46 permits the value of the current owingthrough the coils 19 to be controlled over a wide range, so as to changethe magnitude of the braking force on the wheel assemblies 25 and thetension on the yarns forming the warp 43. To insure the production of ahigh quality warp, the screws 29 in the yarn tension devices 13 shown inFig. 5 are adjusted so that the tension in the yarn 11 passing througheach of said yarn tension devices will be substantially identical whenthe same voltage is applied to the coils 19 of all of said yarn tensiondevices.

When a yarn in the warp 43 breaks during the beaming operation, the stopmotion 42 will act to shut oi the warper drive 45, whereupon the inertiaof the warp beam 44 will cause said warp beam to rotate for a limitedperiod of time before it stops. To insure that the wheel assembly 25Will stop together with the warp beam 44, without overriding and withoutimposing excessive tensions on the yarns forming the warp 43, there isprovided an auxiliary circuit for impressing a supplementary voltage onthe coils 19 on the yarn tension devices 13. The auxiliary circuitcomprises a pair of leads 52 and 53 that are connected to the leads 46and 47, respectively, and upon which a suitable voltage is impressedthrough the terminals 54 and 55. A relay, indicated generally byreference numeral 56, and comprising a normally open double pole switch57, a coil 58 and an actuating plunger 59, is connected in the leads 52and 53 so that no supplementary voltage is applied to the yarn tensiondevices 13 from the terminals 54 and 55 when the warper drive 45 isoperating. However, when the stop motion 42 shuts off the warper drive45 it will also send a current through the coil 58, moving the plunger59 to close the contacts of the switch 57, thereby impressing asupplementary voltage on the coils 19 of the yarn tension devices 13from the terminals 54 and 55 to change the braking force on the wheelassemblies 25.

As the yarn builds up on the warp beam 44, the inertia of said beam willincrease and it will rotate for a longer period of time after the stopmotion 42 shuts off the warper drive 45. Simultaneously, the brakingforce applied to the wheel assemblies 25 when the stop motion 42operates should be reduced to maintain the yarn tension uniform duringthis period. To this end, there is provided in the lead 52 a rheostat 61that is operated by an actuatingarm 62 fastened to a lever arm 63pivotally mounted at 64 and carrying at its upper end a press roll 65that bears against the winding on the Warp beam 44. As the diameter ofsaid winding increases, the motion of the press roll 65 will act,through the lever arm 63 and the actuating arm 62, to increase theresistance of that portion of the rheostat 61 which is in series withthe lead 52, thereby decreasing the voltage that is impressed on thecoils 19 of the yarn tension devices 13 from the terminals 54 and 55when the contacts of the switch 57 are closed and reducing the brakingforce applied to the Wheel assemblies 25.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is givenmerely by way of illustration and that many variations may be madetherein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by Petters Patentis:

1. In apparatus for Winding yarn including a take-up element on whichthe yarn is wound, the combination with electrically-operated means forhalting the operation of said apparatus, of a device for applyingtension to yarn moving through said apparatus, said device comprisingmeans including a coil for producing a magnetic eld when electricalcurrent is caused to flow through said coil, means for impressing avoltage on said coil for causing tension to be applied to the yarn,means for changing the voltage impressed on said coil when said meansfor halting the operation of said apparatus is actuated, and means forvarying the change in voltage impressed on said coil whereby the tensionapplied to the yarn is altered, said latter means including a rheostatand an arm actuated by the windings of said take-up element foroperating said rheostat.

2. In apparatus for winding yarn including a take-up element on whichthe yarn is wound, the combination with electrically-operated means forhalting the operation of said apparatus, of a device for applyingtension to yarn moving through said apparatus, said device comprisingmeans including a coil for producing a magnetic eld when electricalcurrent is caused to ow through said coil, means for impressing avoltage on said coil for causing tension to be applied to the yarn, aseparate circuit for changing the voltage impressed on said coil whensaid means for halting the operation of said apparatus is actuated, andmeans for varying the change in voltage impressed on said coil wherebythe tension applied to the yarn is altered, said latter means includinga rheostat and an arm actuated by the windings of said take-up elementfor operating said rheostat.

3. In apparatus for winding yarn, the combination withelectrically-operated means for halting the operation of said apparatus,of a device for applying tension to yarn moving through said apparatus,said device comprising a rotatable wheel around which the yarn istrained, a coil for producing a magnetic field when electrical currentis caused to flow through said coil and an electrical conductor movablerelative to said coil on rotation of said wheel by the travelling yarnto apply a braking force to said wheel whereby tension is applied to theyarn, means for impressing a voltage on said coil, means for changingthe voltage impressed on said coil when said means for halting theoperation of said apparatus is actuated, and mexns for varying thechange in voltage impressed on said co1 4. In apparatus for winding yarnincluding a take-up element on which the yarn is wound, the combinationwith electrically-operated means for halting the operation of saidapparatus, of a device for applying tension to yarn moving through saidapparatus, said device comprising a rotatable wheel around which theyarn is trained, a coil for producing a magnetic field when electricalcurrent is caused to ow through said coil and an electrical conductormovable relative to said coil on rotation of said wheel by thetravelling yarn to apply a braking force to said wheel whereby tensionis applied to the yarn, means for impressing a voltage on said coil,means for changing the voltage impressed on said coil when said meansfor halting the operation of said apparatus is actuated, and means forvarying the change in voltage impressed on said coil in proportion tothe windings on said take-up element.

5. In apparatus for winding yarn including a take-up element on whichthe yarn is wound, the combination with electrically-operated means yforhalting the operation of said apparatus, of a device for applyingtension to yarn moving through said apparatus, said device comprising arotatable wheel around which the yarn is trained, a coil for producing amagnetic eld when electrical current is caused to ow through said coiland an electrical conductor movable relative to'said coil on rotation ofsaid wheel by the travelling yarn to apply a braking force to said wheelwhereby tension is applied to the yarn, means for impressing a voltageon said coil, means for changing the voltage impressed on said coil whensaid means for halting the operation of said apparatus is actuated, andmeans for varying the change in voltage impressed on said coil, saidlatter means including a rheostat and means actuated by the windings onsaid take-up element for operating said rheostat.

6. In apparatus for winding yarn including a take-up element on whichthe yarn is wound, the combination with electrically-operated means forhalting the operation of said apparatus, of a device for applyingtension to yarn moving through said apparatus, said device comprising arotatable wheel having a tapered periphery around which the yarn istrained for at least one turn, a coil for producing a magnetic eld whenelectrical current is caused to ow through said coil and an electricalconductor movable relative to said coil on rotation of said wheel by thetravelling yarn to apply a braking force to said wheel whereby tensionis applied to the yarn, means for impressing a voltage on said coil,means for changing the voltage impressed on said coil when said. meansfor halting the operation of said apparatus is actuated, means forvarying the change in voltage impressed on said coil, said latter meansincluding a rheostat and an arm actuated by the windings on said take-upelement 4for operating said rheostat, means for guiding the yarn ontothe periphery of the wheel at one point where the wheel has a givendiameter, and means for guiding the yarn from the periphery of the wheelat a point where the wheel has a smaller diameter whereby the turns ofyarn around the periphery of the wheel will not overlap.

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3. IN APPARATUS FOR WINDING YARN, THE COMBINATION WITH ELECTRICALLY-OPERATED MEANS FOR HALTING THE OPERATION OF SAID APPARATUS, OF A DEVICE FOR APPLYING TENSION TO YARN MOVING THROUGH SAID APPARATUS, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING A ROTATABLE WHEEL AROUND WHICH THE YARN IS TRAINED, A COIL FOR PRODUCING A MAGNETIC FIELD WHEN ELECTRICAL CURRENT IS CAUSED TO FLOW THROUGH SAID COIL AND AN ELECTRICAL CONDUCTOR MOVABLE RELATIVE TO SAID COIL ON ROTATION OF SAID WHEEL BY THE TRAVELLING YARN TO APPLY A BRAKING FORCE TO SAID WHEEL WHEREBY TENSION IS APPLIED TO THE YARN, MEANS FOR IMPRESSING A VOLTAGE ON SAID COIL, MEANS FOR CHANGING THE VOLTAGE IMPRESSED ON SAID COIL WHEN SAID MEANS FOR HALTING THE OPERATION OF SAID APPARATUS IS ACTUATED, AND MEANS FOR VARYING THE CHANGE IN VOLTAGE IMPRESSED ON SAID COIL. 